


Taking Care

by rhoen



Series: Tumblr Prompt Fills [4]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Comfort, Fever, Influenza, M/M, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2017-09-02
Packaged: 2018-12-22 18:48:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11973462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhoen/pseuds/rhoen
Summary: When Raidou falls ill, Genma is there for him.





	Taking Care

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt fill for gaelle-kashiira over on tumblr, who wanted GenRai + flu.
> 
> Kudos to my beta KalessinAstarno for the summary and helping me settle on a title. I suck at summaries and titles :D
> 
> No v* or mentions of feeling s* in this ^_^

Raidou feels miserable; he feels miserable, he looks miserable, he  _ is  _ miserable. Nothing in the world can ease the suffering, and he fully intends to crawl home, curl up under a blanket, and await death. It honestly can’t come soon enough. Tsunade takes one look at him and orders him home to rest, but by then his sinuses already ache, the skin around his nose is raw from being rubbed at, and his throat hurts so badly even breathing hurts, never mind swallowing. A cough stirs in his chest, and he can feel the next horrible symptom creeping up on him, his body starting to flush and shiver as fever threatens to take hold. He knows he needs to go home, swallow as much medicine as he can, and hope he’s spared the worst of it.

Ten minutes later, Raidou’s mind is starting to become fuzzy: distracted. He stands in the kitchen and stares at the instructions on the back of the package he holds, trying to calculate just how much oral flu relief he can take after knocking back painkillers. The directions are too convoluted and he huffs, pulling out a sachet anyway and wondering why he has a sudden craving for tomatoes. The idea of any other food makes him grimace, so as the kettle boils he grabs a handful of cherry tomatoes from the fridge and manages to eat half of them before losing interest. He needs sleep, not food.

The medicine tastes as foul as he remembers, but Raidou knocks it back as soon as it’s cool enough, irritable and impatient to be in bed. Already having shrugged off his flak jacket, he refills his mug with cold water and shuffles towards the bedroom, tugging at his top and then deciding he feels too cold to remove it. He needs the warmth of his bed and the comforting weight of the duvet bearing down on him.

He crawls beneath the covers without much thought, still wearing his uniform trousers and top. His head has started to ache, throbbing with every heartbeat, and he’s becoming increasingly desperate for unconsciousness.

It’s impossible to tell how long it takes. In the darkened room, the curtains drawn against daylight, Raidou shifts and shivers, eyes closed in an attempt to block out the increasing discomfort. Eventually, through sheer weariness, he manages to fall asleep.

 

Waking is unpleasant. Raidou is immediately aware of intense discomfort, sweat and fever clinging to his skin, his limbs aching, and his throat dry and raw. He coughs and chokes on the sharpness of it, reaching blindly for the mug he knows he left on his bedside table.

“Here,” Genma’s voice calls, and steady hands push a glass of water into his trembling ones. Raidou manages to sit up just enough to take a sip, distressed at how difficult the small movement is. It feels like his strength has deserted him, as if he’s been asleep for days, and the cloying, stagnant layers of slumber feel like weeks of filth and grime on his skin. He feels disgusting and uncomfortable, but as he tries to push the covers down he is reminded of the reason why he fell asleep fully clothed.

“I got home an hour ago,” Genma explains. Raidou can’t think to calculate what time of day that makes it. “Do you want something to eat? I made soup.”

Raidou shakes his head, struggling to take another sip of water. His hands are frustratingly unsteady, and his head throbs.

“Going back to sleep?”

He nods at that.

“Okay,” Genma says gently. “Finish that first though.”

As much as he hates the effort it takes, Raidou knows Genma is right. He sips at the water until it is gone, and after handing the empty glass off to Genma, he slides back down beneath the covers and allows sleep to reclaim him.

 

It’s not restful sleep. He wakes a few hours later feeling even worse, and whimpers in discomfort, a strong flush of fever gripping him. Tender hands reach for him, Genma’s voice soothing as a cool, damp cloth is placed on his brow, replacing a warm, useless one. He pushes it off, struggling to sit up, and when Genma realises what he wants he helps him, supporting Raidou’s shaking body as they amble towards the bathroom.

Before crawling back into bed, Raidou fights to remove his clothing, stumbling and muttering uselessly to himself as he does. He drops the garments, uncaring as to their fate once he’s free of them, and slumps down onto the bed, rolling onto his back to try and preserve his ability to breathe. Genma encourages him to sit up again, and pushes a blank ration bar into his hand. It’s a struggle to eat the bland food, and Raidou manages half before he has to give up, the pain in his throat discouraging any further attempt. He takes the medicine Genma gives him next with much greater ease.

When he lies back down, the cool flannel in place again, he fidgets and tosses for a while, uncomfortable outside and in and lost in the misery of it all. Genma leaves to fetch more water, his absence stretching on for eternity. When he returns, Raidou reaches for him, mumbling his distaste for having been abandoned.

Genma gently chides him for thinking he’d ever leave him, and sits on the bed, holding Raidou’s hand and watching over him until he falls asleep again, his dreams more fitful this time.

 

Time distorts, taking on a fevered, sickly quality, and Raidou loses track of it altogether as his fever worsens. He only remembers snatches here and there, unpleasant feelings and chores tempered by Genma’s gentle touch and soothing words. By the time he regains enough awareness to look around to try and gauge how much time has passed, it’s dusk again. A day, perhaps two, have passed.

“Didn’t you go to work?” he croaks out, his voice cracked and tearing at his throat as he speaks. This time when Genma hands over a mug of hot broth he doesn’t reject it.

“They could spare me.”

Raidou can tell that’s not quite the whole truth, but he’s weary, and lets it go. He focuses instead on trying to stop his hand from trembling as he eats a few mouthfuls of the broth. When he’s done, Genma takes it back without question.

“You’re looking better.”

“I don’t feel it,” he murmurs, shifting and feeling the cloying, sickly atmosphere of the bed. With no clothes left to peel off, he wants to crawl out of his skin. “Need a shower.”

“Sure,” Genma agrees. He picks up a yukata, and Raidou loosely remembers Genma helping him into it on one of his trips to the bathroom. This time he can manage it mostly by himself. He still accepts Genma’s help in rising, though, his head aching and vision darkening for a moment.

In the bathroom, Genma sets the water while Raidou makes a valiant effort to stand without swaying as he brushes his teeth, quickly tiring. 

“Has it been a day?” he eventually asks.

“Give or take a few hours, yeah,” Genma nods. “You were already pretty out of it when I got home.”

Raidou keeps silent, sliding the yukata from his shoulders with a downcast gaze. “Could you, um…?”

Genma understands without Raidou even having to explain. “Of course,” he says with such warmth Raidou looks up in time to see the smile. The shower now running, Genma turns his attention to his own clothes, pulling off his top and draping it over the rail next to their towels.

Raidou is grateful for the support. He knows he wouldn’t be able to manage on his own. They shower together, Genma helping to prop Raidou up and also wash his hair and skin, and the best Raidou can manage in return is to cling to Genma.

When Genma leans in to kiss him, Raidou turns away. “You’ll get sick.”

Genma gives a dismissive laugh. “I’ll be fine. Besides, you always look after me when I’m ill.”

Raidou doesn’t have the energy to point out that Genma is far better at taking care of him. He’d rather not have to look after Genma not because he hates doing it, but because he always feels so helpless, and is never sure of the right thing to do. Genma, on the other hand, knows what Raidou wants and needs before he’s even realised it himself.

Case in point being after the shower, when Raidou is bundled up in a fluffy dressing gown, towel draped over his head and Genma helping to rub it dry with gentle, soothing motions.

“Are you hungry?”

Raidou nods, all his energy having left him. He struggles not to sway, feeling dangerously close to collapsing to the floor. He needs food and, mercifully, his stomach agrees.

“Come on,” Genma urges, helping him through to the living room. Raidou sinks to the sofa, grateful for its firm embrace. For a moment he’s alone, and then Genma reappears, towel still around his waist and hair dripping, with a mug in one hand and a glass of water and strip of painkillers in the other. He gives a disarming smile. “Tuck in.”

Raidou doesn’t need to be told twice. He eats slowly, savouring the easy to swallow food he knows Genma has made specially for him – there’s no way Genma would ever eat something so bland. There are a few minutes in which he’s alone again, but once Genma has finished in the bedroom and stuffed the dirty linen into the washing machine, Raidou has company again. Genma tucks up against his side, and it doesn’t take long before they end up curled around each other. Despite the flush still lingering on his skin, Raidou is grateful for the warmth.

“I’m glad you’re feeling a bit better,” Genma says at one point, his fingers tracing lazily over the scar tissue on Raidou’s neck.

“So am I,” Raidou agrees. “Thank you for taking care of me.”

“Mm, my pleasure,” Genma murmurs, falling silent for a moment before continuing. “I have tomorrow off too.”

Raidou hesitates, unsure of what to do with the information.

“So even if you’re feeling better, let me take care of you another day?”

The flush on Raidou’s skin has nothing to do with his abating fever.

“Please?”

“O-okay,” he agrees.”

Genma grins and leans in, pressing a kiss to Raidou’s cheek. “Just tell me what you need and I’ll help, okay?”

Out of words for a moment, Raidou nods. His muscles ache as he pulls Genma into a tighter embrace. “I just need you.”

“You’ve got me.”

Raidou buries his face in Genma’s damp hair, thinking about the way it usually smells after a shower, and relaxes. He knows he has Genma, and Genma has him, and there’s nothing in the world he wants more than that.

**Author's Note:**

> (Raidou does a really good job of looking after Genma when Genma's ill, it's just that Genma's a shitty sick person, whereas Raidou is far more docile and cooperative.)


End file.
